I'll probably do that, actually. I've been meaning to support GoG and thought I'd start with Witcher.

Two more gorgeous Witcher 2 vids. Preloading starts tomorrow on gog (I assume on Steam as well).

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/05 ... -2-videos/

that has got to be one of the most boring gameplay videos I have ever seen.

Ok, I haven't played the game itself yet (last install motions, then going to bed), but GoG seriously is my favorite service ever.

Not only does their Witcher 2 digital download come without any DRM and does it offer a crapload of goodies like a map, extensive manual (!), soundtrack, making of vids and so on (they don't always interest me, but it shows they care about their customers), buying from them ALSO gives you a free game to pick from 5 on offer, and ALSO compensates EU customers the money they pay extra vis-a-vis most of the world in store credit.

Since it's around 16 bucks, you get to choose one 5.99 game and one 9.99 game - which means just about anything in their catalogue, since those are their only two price categories iirc. Well, excluding Witcher 2.

I got Vampire: The Masquerade Redemption (not bloodlines) for the smaller one and finally got a real copy of Planescape: Torment for the 9.99 one.

That's some real fucking customer service.

I'm on the GoG page right now, very very tempted to sign up and get this. Been tempted by the game for a while and it does come with tons of nice stuff. Trouble is I still prefer a physical copy, though the compensation for stupid prices is tempting! May have to see what GAME have for it (i.e. if the manual etc is super nice lol) and if it's not great, I'll GoG it.

Just to give you an idea The 60 bucks translates to a regular EU price btw (45€), they just convert it.

Bah so tempting. See, it's either £30 on GoG with free ~£10 game(s) or I can get Mole to buy it on discount which will be £18 with awesome manuals.

that's a hell of a discount.

Having played the Witcher 2 for a while, I can give you some first impressions....(very) positive, some negative, some neutral

- the graphics are spec-ta-cu-lar. I'm playing the game on high settings with little problems, but medium looks amazing too. It really is a tour de force. In addition to this, loading between areas is almost seamless, giving you the impression you're actually walking around a large town or city. The only thing that annoys me a little is that bloom is sometimes a little overdone, but it can be disabled and in general it's a really small criticism in an otherwise jaw-droppingly gorgeous world.

- conversations and cutscenes are equally polished. Much more convincing than say Mass effect (which isn't a slouch either)

- the atmosphere and character development is top-notch and very convincing. The game, like its predecessor, doesn't shy away from adult themes like moral grey zones, friendships and love and their turmoils and generally racism, violence and sex. It's not a fisherprice good/evil universe. It also surprises you by making you make a few decisions (timer of a few seconds) quickly, or by giving you situations where you can only ask a question or two (as opposed to going down the whole conversation tree). Your priorities will thus shine through in the questiosn you ask, or the topics you want to breach. All this can have small or big consequences down the line.

- You'll have to read the manual to get to the bottom of some things, skills and systems. There's little or no hand-holding, and no real tutorial. At first this irked me a little since I wasn't used to it anymore, but now I'm glad because it makes away with the tedium of a long tutorial.

- The beginning of the game has a few difficulty spikes - since you're not very familiar with the new combat system yet and faced with a few challenging opponents, you get killed a LOT (also because of the no hand-holding as described above). Particularly getting caught in a group of 3-4 opponents is a one way ticket to deathsville, since getting hit in the back does craploads of damage. The solution is to be patient, use your signs and to roll around a lot. Difficulty gets progressively easier throughout the game, so maybe it's advisable to play the first few hours on easy and then switch to normal to keep things challenging. Overall, could have been handled better.

- there are a few quick-time events during battles and events. Quite annoying, tbh. One moment you're in the midst of a big battle, the next you're pressing right mouse, filling a mouse click bar or pressing spacebar. Ugh. All in all they're rare, but they are still as ineffective as ever since you can't really watch the (really cool) action on screen as you're frantically waiting for a button to flash down the screen.

- Music is amazing too. So are the menus. Alchemy has been steamlined, making it easier to do (no more ingredients with 3 uses or so, every ingredient has only one puprose now - makes more sense, there are tons of ingredients anyway).

- There have been reports of bugs, but only one small issue for me so far (a small quest that wouldn't end properly, so I took another quest path for it). Technically speaking though, everything has been a-ok. No glitches, crashes, freezes or anything.

- in short, the game is amazing. You should play it asap. I'll be happy to help out with any questions you have too.

P.S. Satis, another thing to consider on deciding wether to buy Witcher 2 from GOG or Steam may be that Steam possibly offers the censored puritan edition to US players - I'm not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

I don't live in Australia, man. The US doesn't typically sensor games. When I buy it, it'll be from GoG though. I made that decision months ago. I may do that this week, actually. it's about time for a new game. Got bored of Rift, reinstalled Blood Money, but kinda bored of that now too.

Haha, sorry. Can't blame me for assuming the US' view on boobies would carry over to games.

I bought the physical edition. However I'm not playing it until I've played Golems of Amgarrak/Witches Hunt, and actually finished the first Witcher! But at least I know I have my shiny, sexy copy waiting right here for me

Christ, I can't believe I misspelled censor. I swear, my brain is freaking going.

Anyway, I bought it from GoG today. The GoG downloaded wouldn't log me in... I suspect a problem with my brand new account replicating to whatever server powers it. so I did http downloads, which took awhile since it was broken into 7 freaking pieces. Oh well, it's installed now. Launching now.

Awesome. I suggest having a quick read of the manual first btw - there's a lot that isn't explained in-game in there. Also, remember to roll (space) a lot when faced with large groups.